Female stress urinary incontinence (SUI), the involuntary loss of urine, can occur during normal movements and everyday activities including laughing, coughing, sneezing, exercise and any physical activity that causes an increase in intra-abdominal pressure resulting in urine to flow from the bladder through the urethral tube to the outside of the body. The primary causative factor resulting in genuine stress incontinence is the incomplete transmission of abdominal pressure to the proximal urethra due to the displacement of the urethra from its intra-abdominal position. Stress incontinence is related to weakened pelvic floor muscles tissue and ligaments that are no longer able to adequately support the proximal urethra and elevate it above the pelvic floor thereby subjecting it to increases in intra-abdominal pressure, thus allowing compression and maintenance of continence [Urogynecology and Urodynamics—Theory and Practice, chapter 36, page 494]. Stress incontinence can result from repetitive straining of the pelvic muscles, pregnancy, obesity etc. that lead to a loss of pelvic muscle tone and other medical causes that can also occur naturally with the aging process. Some women, especially women who have given birth to one or more children, and older women, can experience incidences of involuntary urine loss due to stress urinary incontinence or combined stress and urge incontinence.
As the world's female population ages, there is an ever-increasing need for a consumer friendly, method or measure to reduce the involuntary urine loss commonly associated with stress urinary incontinence. Although there are specialized products available for this purpose, many can only be purchased with a prescription and they need to be properly sized, physically inserted and/or adjusted by a medical practitioner for them to perform correctly. Over the counter solutions like feminine pads and incontinence pads being bulky and exterior to the body are not discreet and do not mitigate the problem before absorbent protection is required.
In view of the lack of commercially-available devices that are easy to use, there is a need for a urinary incontinence device that can be purchased by the consumer and that is uncomplicated and user friendly. Furthermore, there is a need for a urinary incontinence device that is easy for a woman to insert into and remove from her body that is comfortable to wear and provides both physical and psychological assurance that it is capable of properly performing over an extended period of time.